God's Faithfulness in the Face of Israel's Unfaithfulness

That God's faithfulness does not depend on the people's performance; it springs from His character. Moses sums it up a few chapters later: "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;" (Deuteronomy 7:9). In Deuteronomy 4 that faithfulness shows up in three ways: God speaks and draws near to His people (Deuteronomy 4:7); He corrects when the people go astray (Deuteronomy 4:3, 4); and He leaves the way back open even after judgment: "(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them." (Deuteronomy 4:31). The New Testament says the same: "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:13). God's faithfulness is not a prize for the good; it is the firm ground on which the sinner can come back.

Baal-peor was the god worshipped at Peor, in the land of Moab. Shortly before Moses preached Deuteronomy, Israel was camped at Shittim, and living alongside the neighbors turned into worship: "And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods." (Numbers 25:2). The judgment was heavy: "And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand." (Numbers 25:9). That is why Moses could say to the new generation, "Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you." (Deuteronomy 4:3), and complete it: "But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day." (Deuteronomy 4:4). Moses' own audience was the proof that faithfulness preserves. The episode belongs to a unique moment in Israel's history, under God's direct rule; it is not a model for how the church treats those who go wrong, but it remains a serious warning about the price of idolatry.

"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." (Deuteronomy 4:24). Jealousy, here, is the covenant love that will not share its place with another god. It is not the sick human jealousy born of insecurity, which watches, controls and smothers. God is not insecure: He is the only God, there is none else (Deuteronomy 4:39), and He claims the heart because the heart belongs to Him and because only in Him does a person live. God's jealousy protects the people from what destroys them. That is why this text can never be used to justify possessive jealousy in marriage. The model for the Christian husband is not control; it is self-giving: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" (Ephesians 5:25).

Idolatry is putting anything in the place that only God can occupy. Paul describes the mechanism: "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." (Romans 1:25). Almost always the idol is a good thing, such as work, money, a child, marriage, ministry, one's own reputation, that has left its place and climbed onto the throne. The Bible even calls covetousness idolatry (Colossians 3:5). And the warning is addressed to the church, not to outsiders: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." (1 John 5:21); "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12). So yes, a believer can fall into idolatry. But the text points at our own heart, not at the neighbor of another religion: fighting idolatry is never a license to despise, mock or attack anyone, nor to destroy what belongs to others.

Not in the sense of punishing an innocent person for someone else's guilt. The Law is clear: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." (Deuteronomy 24:16); and the prophet repeats it: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." (Ezekiel 18:20). When the Lord says He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation, the same verse completes the thought, of them that hate Him, that is, generations that keep going down the same road: "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me," (Deuteronomy 5:9). And the next verse shows which way the scale tips: "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." (Deuteronomy 5:10). What passes from parent to child are examples and consequences; that is why Deuteronomy 4 commands telling the children what God has done (Deuteronomy 4:9). No family is bound to the sin of those who came before.

Yes, and Deuteronomy 4 wrote that door in before the fall even happened. After announcing the dispersion, Moses says: "But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." (Deuteronomy 4:29). From there: from the place of the consequence, far from home. The New Testament confirms it: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). But the same Bible that opens the door warns that it is not a safe-conduct for those who decide to stay away: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:" (2 Timothy 2:12), and God's goodness reaches those who continue in it: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." (Romans 11:22). God's faithfulness is a way back for those who want to come back; it is never a license for those who want to carry on.